We have said it earlier that rail connectivity now underway, will change the life and economy of the valley. It is only a matter of time. Out of 32 more specially designed rail coaches built by integrated coach factory in Chennai for Kashmir railways, four have reached Udhampur station, 12 are parked at Jallandhar station and the remaining are still in the coach factory. Addition of 32 rail coaches has been necessitated by the great rush of passengers that valley railway is facing at the moment. This means an expensive step of Indian Railways is gaining popularity in the valley. How phenomenally it will affect the economy and life style of the people of a landlocked valley, is perhaps sill beyond the comprehension of an ordinary Kashmiri. By the end of this year, Qazigund will be connected with Banihal, a very crucial strip in the entire railway project for Kashmir. But it has to be reminded that this is only the beginning of a far bigger project. Connecting Poonch-Rajouri with Jammu and Leh-Kargil with Srinagar through railway line is now a plan on the table. Concerned quarters at the Rail Bhavan are seized of full rail expansion in the valley. And when relations with Pakistan are normalized, a phenomenon which is being built on both sides, a new dimension will be added to Kashmir rail project. It could become the great terminus of a vast railway network crisscrossing the forbidding Pamirs, the Hindukush and the Badakhshan,
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